Backing Up Your Re:discovery Version 8 Databases
8/29/2008
Backing up your databases for Re:discovery Version 8 is highly important and should
not be overlooked. If your computer or server crashes, you will need these backups to
restore your data.
Re:discovery Version 8 uses the Microsoft SQL Server database engine, which runs as
a “service” in Windows. This means that your Proficio data files are always “in use”
when the computer is running. As a result, the data files cannot simply be copied, re-
named, or misused, and that’s one of the important security components of SQL
Server. But because the data files are “in use”, it also means that your automated
backup software (such as Symantec Backup Exec, Veritas Backup Exec, etc) probably
needs to be adjusted to be “database aware”, so that it can successfully backup the
SQL Server data files. Traditional file-based backup software will not be able to backup
the data files while SQL Server is running. Therefore, you may need to use other
methods to regularly backup your data, such as using Version 8’s built-in backup
options.
Here are several options for backing up your SQL databases for Rediscovery Version 8:
1. Shut down SQL Server service prior to using your traditional file-based
backup software
You can manually or automatically shut down the SQL Server service prior to doing a
file-based backup and restart it after the backup is complete. Shutting down the service
allows the backup software to access and copy the database files.
Note: The service should only be shut down if no users are currently running
Rediscovery. Otherwise, they would lose their work and data loss could occur if they
were updating the database at the time it was shut down.
To shut down the SQL Server service manually:
a. from the Start menu, choose Control Panel.
b. In Control Panel, choose Administrative Tools.
c. In the list of Administrative Tools, choose Services.
d. In the list of services, locate SQL Server (instancename). (where
instancename is the SQL instance used in your Rediscovery installation:
E.g., Version8, Proficio, MSSQLServer, etc.)
e. Right-click on SQL Server (instancename) and choose Stop.
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Once this service is stopped, you can use your file-based backup software to backup
the database files located in Rediscovery Software Inc\Rediscovery Version8.0\Data\ or
Rediscovery Software Inc\Rediscovery Version8.0 SQL\Data\ folder.
When the backup is complete, you should start the service again so users can use the
program. Just follow steps a-e above and choose Start in the last step.
Tech Tip: If your backups are run on a schedule overnight, you may want to create a
batch file that would stop the service before the backup is scheduled to run and another
batch file that would start the service after the backup is finished. You might name
them Beforebackup.bat and Afterbackup.bat with the following content:
(Beforebackup.bat)
NET STOP “SQL Server (Version8)”
(Afterbackup.bat)
NET START “SQL Server (Version8)”
(Make sure to use the correct service name as appropriate for your installation.)
Add these batch files to your scheduler on the server to run before and after your
backup is scheduled.
2. Special SQL Server-aware Backup Software
Backup software, such as Veritas Backup Exec, BackupAssist and others, offer “SQL
Agent” software that allows them to back up databases while they are in use. There are
many backup products available in various price ranges. Look for those that are “SQL-
aware” or “database-aware”.
3. SQL Server Management Studio Maintenance Plans
If you are using SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (or higher), there are tools within the
SQL Server Management Studio that comes with the installation that allow you to
create database backup plans. You create these under Management – Maintenance
Plans. Just use the Maintenance Plan Wizard that is on the right click menu for
Maintenance Plans to backup all your databases. Please consult your SQL Server
2005 on-line help for specific information about using this tool.
This SQL backup tool creates .bak files that can then be backed up with your file-based
backup software without having to stop the SQL Server service.
4. Backup utility within Rediscovery Version 8
Within the Rediscovery program, there is a backup utility that can be run manually to
create a backup zip file of your data directories. From within the program:
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a. Go to the File menu and choose Backup Data.
b. In the Data Backup window, select one of the backup options – we
recommend either the Complete System backup or All Databases backup
options to make sure that you get all components of the system.
c. Select the location where you want to save the backup file.
d. Click Start Backup.
This process creates a .zip file of the databases and other components. You can then
use your file-based backup software to backup these .zip files.
For more information about the Backup Data utility, see the on-line help within the
program available on the Help menu – System Help. Look at the Tools and System
Maintenance chapter for Backup Data.
Other Rediscovery files to back up:
In addition to the SQL databases, you should also be backing up the following folders
inside the Rediscovery Software Inc\Rediscovery Version8.0 folder:
Fullimages
Thumbnails
VisualRediscovery
These are all normal files and can be backed up with your regular file-based backup
software.
Conclusion:
Choose from these backup options above for what best fits your environment and
resources. You should consult with your IT department, computer consultant or other
technical resources for additional guidance.
Also, remember that any good backup plan should also be tested for that plan’s ability
to actually recover the data in case of a disaster. Don’t wait until you need to recover
the data to find out that it wasn’t being backed up properly or is not in a form that can
be retrieved.
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